Of ReSpect

It's like going to your window as a child, and looking out you see an unfathomable black sky pinned without wrinkle to some flat surface behind it. There in the perfect dark you see the night calmly let through its first star. And as you look up your not sure what it is about the scene that makes it so... well now you can't even find the words to describe it, probably because your not even old enough to get a handle on the feelings your even feeling. Is it the single light on a backdrop of all black? Is it the innocence of youth that can appreciate real beauty before growing up and being thrown into public school cliches and overcome by any new, popular shiny toy? Is it the simplicity of the picture unlike that of life, where some don't even know their father's name? Well, whatever it is, somehow you know, while in that instant, that this is the appropriate time to make a wish.
That is what it was like seeing Miss Regina Spektor. It was a concert sure, there was the wild cheering leading to the encore, the opening band repeatedly thanking her, the spot lights who's beams pierced the fog machines' smoke filling the great space above, the "Have my babies!" guy(s), and the general theatrical feel that comes with all of it. But what made the show for me, was that I realized just how much her music stood by itself. At one point I could just close my eyes pray and wish that she was a toy monkey I could just let play for hours or days on end without the pause of resetting the stylus on the record player. Some bands put on elaborate shows and dance around and have the music blasting, the lights blinding, and everyone is just there to have a good time- however you interpret that. But I felt like Regina didn't need to do all that, and it wasn't in her personality to. Instead she just played her songs like she had just come upon them on the spot, free and fun. At times the instruments would clam down, and it was just her and the 20+ speakers in the auditorium reminding me that classical real music can still exist in the 21st century of synthesizers and Auto-Tune. And better yet it feels like every other lyric becomes completely personal for the listener, whether it be, "Your using your headphones to drown out your mind" or "He stumbled into fate and thought, 'God this is all there is'", somehow they just connect to you, to a memory, to a feeling, to a wish. There unique, clever, and very lovable and as such become very distinct and different from the mainstream, which, combined with her folk-jazz-Dance Anthem of the 80's shoots her music right into your heart. The more you know of her, the more you need.

"It started out as a feeling
Which then grew into a hope
Which then turned into a quiet thought
Which then turned into a quiet word

And then that word grew louder and louder
Til it was a battle cry

I'll come back
When you call me
No need to say goodbye

Just because everything's changing
Doesn't mean it's never
Been this way before

All you can do is try to know
Who your friends are
As you head off to the war

Pick a star on the dark horizon
And follow the light

You'll come back
When it's over
No need to say good bye

You'll come back
When it's over
No need to say good bye..

Now we're back to the beginning
It's just a feeling and no one knows yet
But just because they can't feel it too
Doesn't mean that you have to forget

Let your memories grow stronger and stronger
Til they're before your eyes

You'll come back
When they call you
No need to say good bye

You'll come back
When they call you
No need to say good bye.."